Candy Cane Brownie Kisses

In my culture, the weeks leading up to Christmas are spent with friends and family and baking all sorts of yummy cookies. I remember my mom always having a batch of German sugar cookie dough ready in the fridge for us to bake on the weekends. We had tons of cookie cutters - I think my favorite was a cat or cow...but those never came out great. Most of the time you couldn't really make out what type of animal the cookie was supposed to represent. But I guess that didn't really matter, at the end - the cookies always tasted delicious!

So in the spirit of Christmas, I got together with my two besties this past weekend to exchange gifts, catch up on life, and bake! I love anything mint and chocolate, so this recipe I found looked perfect! And the best thing is that it is EASY and does not require many ingredients. Using brownie mix, makes the cookies extra mushy and tasty! I usually prefer finding a more healthy version of a recipe...but for the sake of taste, I kept this one full of fat and calories - YUMMMMM!

Here a few tips...after you mix the ingredients together, the dough won't be very sticky. It will be pretty powdery still, but don't add more liquid than what the recipe calls for...it will form into perfect balls after sitting in the fridge. 

Also, once you take the baked brownie balls out of the oven, definitely wait two minutes to press on the Hershey Kisses. Then place them into the freezer for about 10 minutes...I did my first batch without putting them in the freezer and the kisses melted!

Serve with some milk...they are rich in taste - for someone with a serious sweet-tooth, these are perfectly amazing!

Enjoy!

Love, Lena

Candy Cane Brownie Cookies (adapted from Hershey's Kitchen)

Ingredients:

1 package Betty Crocker Original Supreme Brownie Mix with Hershey's Syrup Pouch

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup crushed candy canes (optional - it's an extra hit of peppermint flavor, but if you use the Candy Cane Hershey's kisses, you can even leave this ingredient out)

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 egg

1/4 cup powdered sugar for rolling

1 bag Hershey's Kisses brand Candy Cane chocolates (you can substitute these with any other flavor of Hershey's Kisses if you don't like mint flavor)

Preparation:

1. Mix brownie mix & cocoa powder in a bowl (add crushed candy cane in this step if you are using this ingredient). Add syrup pouch, water, oil, and egg and mix until combined. Let sit in fridge for about an hour.

2. About 15 minutes before removing the dough from the fridge, unwrap about 30 Hershey's Kisses.

3. While you preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, remove dough from fridge, form 1 inch balls (they will stick together nicely at this point) and roll the balls in powdered sugar.

4. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for about 9-10 minutes.

5. Remove from oven and let sit for 2 minutes. Gently press 1 Hershey's Kiss into each ball, remove from cookie sheet, and transfer to a tray, to place into the freezer for about 10 minutes.